How to Turn Your iPod Touch Into an iPhone

Good news, iPod touch owners. Thanks to a new adapter case, you can now turn your music-storing device into a phone, allowing you to get the best of both worlds from your Apple gadget. The Apple Peel 520 (I know, adorable name right?) is still in prototype form, will retail for about $50, and comes with a one-year warranty. The final retail version of the product will be a sleek, plastic case instead of the silicon rubber one you see in this review photo. So are you excited to learn how this case can possibly turn your iPod touch into an iPhone? Of course you are. Here’s how it works:

The adapter consists of six main parts: a speaker on the top to hear phone calls, a removable 800mAh battery, a SIM card slot, a “vibration motor”, a baseband chip, and a dock connector. The adapter works by connecting to the iPhone voice calling and text messaging app, so the iPod touch must be jailbroken to function. You’ll need to add these apps plus the “Yosion” and “YsSMS” apps to the homescreen manually prior to using the adapter. The Yosion calling app is user-friendly, and enables users to send and receive calls and messages, delete previous calls and messages, and import all your contacts from the SIM card you use. The SMS app doesn’t support full screen on the iPod touch, and the adapter doesn’t give your new “phone” any 3G capabilities. But, users can enjoy 3 hours of talk time and 120 hours of standby juice on one charge.

According to Chinese tech site PC Online, who reviewed the gadget, the adapter works extremely well for basic functions. It won’t drop calls, and the retail version will support Bluetooth and hands-free calling. There are, however, a few minor problems:

• Your iPod touch will show “Calling” even though the call is answered.
• Incoming numbers and contacts may not appear.
• If you miss a call, you might receive “blank” messages as a reminder.
• Ringtones can’t be customized. The adapter vibrates and rings by default, but you can disable the ringing.
• The call volume doesn’t make a huge difference.
• An incoming call won’t light up your screen, and only the other party can end the call. So good luck angrily hanging up on someone. It won’t work.

Aside from that, users might want to note that the SMS text is smaller than the text on a proper iPhone, and you can’t add multiple recipients to one message.

So what do you think, iPod touch lovers? Will you purchase the Apple Peel 520 when it becomes available?

(Source: M.I.C Gadget)